Danish wind turbine maker Vestas said Monday it would cease production at its factories in Lauchhammer, Germany; Viveiro, Spain and Esbjerg, Denmark, where it employs 650 people in total.
In Germany, Vestas’ factory in Lauchhammer, which scaled-down activities two years ago, has maintained manufacturing of a limited number of blades for the V117 and V136 turbines and currently employs approximately 460 people, according to the company.
Vestas expects to finalize production in Lauchhammer by the end of 2021, and said it would explore opportunities to relocate employees currently working in Lauchhammer to other Vestas sites in Germany across manufacturing and service. Vestas said that it expected to meet future customer needs for its V117 and V136 turbines with supply from its other blade factories across the world.
In its factory in Viveiro, Spain, Vestas employs approximately 115 people who manufacture generators for the 2 MW onshore platform as well as control panels for the V164 offshore turbine for markets outside of Spain.
"Due to both the decrease in demand for the 2 MW platform and the need to optimize offshore manufacturing, it is no longer sustainable to continue activities in Viveiro. Based on current plans, Vestas expects to finalize production in Viveiro end of 2021 and will offer opportunities to relocate employees currently working in Viveiro to other Vestas sites in Spain," said Vestas, which had more than 2,200 employees in Spain as of August 2021 including the blade factory in Daimiel, service operations and the headquarters for Vestas’ Mediterranean region.
In Esbjerg, Denmark, Vestas employs about 75 people who manufacture power conversion modules for the V164 and V174 offshore turbines.
"As demand for these modules will gradually shift to markets primarily outside of Europe and be delivered via more localized manufacturing facilities, Vestas expects to conclude the production of power conversion modules in Esbjerg during the first half of 2022," Vestas explained.
"Vestas will explore opportunities to relocate employees currently working at the factory in Esbjerg to other Vestas sites in Denmark, and Denmark remains a core part of Vestas’ global footprint with more than 5,900 employees as of August 2021," the company, which employs more that 29,000 people globally, said.
Vestas Executive Vice President and COO Tommy Rahbek Nielsen said: “Today’s fast-moving energy transition, rapid introduction of new products, and recent integration of our onshore and offshore business require us to further mature and evolve our supply chain network and manufacturing footprint.
"While Vestas will sustain a strong footprint in Europe across manufacturing and service activities, it’s always hard to make decisions that negatively affect our good, hardworking colleagues at Vestas. I would like to emphasize that we are deeply committed to exploring opportunities to relocate our colleagues, who unfortunately will be impacted by the cease of production at our factories in Lauchhammer, Viveiro, and Esbjerg."
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